Elder Scrolls: Morrowind fan remake has 3 times as many NPCs as Skyrim

The developers behind what looks to be the most impressive Skyrim mod ever made (or maybe even just the most impressive mod ever made, period) have released an update video for the project, and I can see why this has taken them over a decade to produce.

Work on Skywind, the upcoming mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, began all the way back in 2012, although it could be argued that it technically began back in 2008 with the release of TES Renewal’s Oblivion mod Morroblivion.

The project is a volunteer-driven recreation of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, which uses Bethesda’s Skyrim engine and assets in a bid to remake it.

The latest update for the project comes in the form of the “Skywind 2024: The Road So Far” video over on YouTube, and will almost certainly do a better job of summing up the 12-year-long journey the TES Renewal team have undertaken than I ever could.

The update boasts several impressive feats, including 13,000 custom assets, 51 functioning spells with custom VFX, and 352 fully implemented quests.

However, the NPCs and voice actors are the real stars of the show here.

As narrator Daniel Hodge explains, "Skyrim had about 1,100 NPCs, voiced by approximately 70 voice actors. Skywind has about 3,000 NPCs, voiced by approximately 300 voice actors."

Good lord, these volunteers must really love Morrowind because that’s a lot of work.

So, when can we get our hands on Skywind? Short answer, we don’t know.

The long answer, straight for the FAQ page of the Skywind website, is that the team is “keeping [their] release targets private for now, and it’s not possible to give a useful completion percentage.”

“With a community project such as this, progress often comes at an irregular rate and is hard to predict. Providing even an approximate estimated date won’t help us deliver Skywind faster and will result in disappointment if we’re delayed. It’ll be done when it’s done.”

Fair enough. You guys take your time. It’ll probably still be out before The Elder Scrolls VI anyway.